1/3 of the Saracens Squad shown the door...

toomevara

Brendan Venter has informed one third of the current Sarries squad (including former AB Chris Jack) that their services wont be required next season...He's also told many of those who survived the axe that South African players will be brought in to fill the gaps...looks like Sarries will in effect become London SA by stealth....curious.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/saracens/7908906.stm

Stev_o

toomevara wrote: »

Brendan Venter has informed one third of the current Sarries squad (including former AB Chris Jack) that their services wont be required next season...He's also told many of those who survived the axe that South African players will be brought in to fill the gaps...looks like Sarries will in effect become London SA by stealth....curious.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/saracens/7908906.stm

Sorry but what the f*ck is even strong enough of a phrase to express my disillusionment. I mean seriously if the RFU had any spine left (which is doubtful) they should get in there and have a quiet word with the Scarries directors that this can't be done. I mean what a bloody plank this is not what rugby is for, i sincerely hope that Venter gets the boot.

Crash

Well I doubt the SA consortium that own Sarries would give him the boot for bringing in more Saffers.

Stev_o

Going Waterforward wrote: »

Well I doubt the SA consortium that own Sarries would give him the boot for bringing in more Saffers.

True that, but still the likes of this should never be heard in Rugby. Personally if i was a Sarries season ticket holder id demand a refund a pick another club as this is just taking the mick.

[Jackass]

I hope they fail misserably and implode.

This is not what the sport is about, save that kind of sh*t for knacker ball.

dave13

Explains why Jones announced he was leaving anyway. Presume there'll be a SA coach as well .
Can't imagine how they would keep much of their fanbase with a move like that. Is there a large SA diaspora in London(watford) they hope to attract?

Stev_o

Ares wrote: »

Explains why Jones announced he was leaving anyway. Presume there'll be a SA coach as well .
Can't imagine how they would keep much of their fanbase with a move like that. Is there a large SA diaspora in London(watford) they hope to attract?

They are moving to Fulham apparently.

[Jackass]

Imagine how the fans feel. Imagine it was your side, Leinster or Munster or whoever and it's taken over like that and moved and more or less an institution tarnished and destroyed. I'd be gutted and annoyed.

Stev_o

[Jackass] wrote: »

Imagine how the fans feel. Imagine it was your side, Leinster or Munster or whoever and it's taken over like that and moved and more or less an institution tarnished and destroyed. I'd be gutted and annoyed.

Yup hard to believe really i hope the fans boycott them and make them financially unviable. Still how gutless can you be the tear a team apart from the inside out?

A Leicester fan summed it up really

"What with the problems with ELVs, the disciplinary process, the EPS, English players moving to France, people booing kickers, uncontested scrums, Gavin Henson getting drunk, Danny Cipriani being a Flash Harry and now this, rugby union is going into meltdown. We’ll be lucky if we get through the remainder of the season."

anonymous_joe

Fastest way to start a London South Africa team. There's a market there.

toomevara

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Fastest way to start a London South Africa team. There's a market there.

Precisely, this was attempted a couple of years ago by the front door. The RFU vetoed it. Obviously, this is the Trojan horse approach. There's undeniably a huge market there, with a massive SA population, particularly in SW London. But given the MO, I hope it falls flat on its arse...Also from The RFU's perspective, they've got an entire outfit playing in the GP which is going to contribute little or nothing to the national game....

Noopti

Yes, it is obvious they are starting a "London Saffies" team. But they could at least have the balls to admit that instead of blaming the economic situation for the player release. Cowards.

anonymous_joe

toomevara wrote: »

Precisely, this was attempted a couple of years ago by the front door. The RFU vetoed it. Obviously, this is the Trojan horse approach. There's undeniably a huge market there, with a massive SA population, particularly in SW London. But given the MO, I hope it falls flat on its arse...Also from The RFU's perspective, they've got an entire outfit playing in the GP which is going to contribute little or nothing to the national game....

Well of course the RFU's not happy, but what can they do at this stage?

Besides, the grim reality is, within a generation, a whole lot of South Africans will be English, and eligible for England. So they'll get players eventually...

It is a sneaky way of doing it, but t'was inevitable really.

Noopti wrote: »

Yes, it is obvious they are starting a "London Saffies" team. But they could at least have the balls to admit that instead of blaming the economic situation for the player release. Cowards.

I think to be honest there's a case of little from column a little from column b here.

There's going to be a big reduction in squad size in the Premiership as teams release players they can't afford. Unlike our game, where a rake of near pros are playing amateur rugby for the clubs, in England you're a pro or you're not playing rugby really. You can't just grab a half dozen lads from the equivalent of Shannon when your squad's a bit thin. THey're league can't sustain itself at the moment, at least in the lower half of the table...

They desperately need new money from somewhere, until they get it, player wages will fall.

toomevara

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Well of course the RFU's not happy, but what can they do at this stage?

Besides, the grim reality is, within a generation, a whole lot of South Africans will be English, and eligible for England. .

Of course, this was the old allegation levelled at LI, and why they were often, in the amateur era, poorly treated by the rfu...and now they provide some of the most exciting english talent...

Still,there's no getting around it, its a very, very mercenary approach,even by the standards of modern professional rugby union. Imo, this kind of crack belongs best in the world of the round ball. Were I a Sarries fan, I'd be switching my alliegiance to another London club.

anonymous_joe

toomevara wrote: »

Of course, this was the old allegation levelled at LI, and why they were often, in the amateur era, poorly treated by the rfu...and now they provide some of the most exciting english talent...

Still,there's no getting around it, its a very, very mercenary approach,even by the standards of modern professional rugby union. Imo, this kind of crack belongs best in the world of the round ball. Were I a Sarries fan, I'd be switching my alliegiance to another London club.

The aforementioned round ball is only more 'corrupt' because it's more popular.

With LIrish they were providing at times 4 or 5 players per squad for us. I was reading a report of a game 20 years ago between Munster and Leinster (don't ask me why, it was in the paper) and both teams had a rake of LIrish players. My uncle played for their third team back in teh day ffs. Half of Dublin and Limeric/Cork seemed to. :pac:

There's a massive market of huge rugby fans who are totally uncatered for in London. The only parralel is football in America where Chivas USA aside, there's no club for the myriad Hispanics who dwell in southern America. It makes sense to unite this Saffer market. Also, they could prove a good team in all fairness.

Sarries were after all a collection of mercenaries in and of themselves.

toomevara

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Sarries were after all a collection of mercenaries in and of themselves.

Totally agree, and not a particularly well performing collection to boot! Appears this is the wave of the future.Don't bloody like it though! Rugby just ain't like football, a collection of talented but disparate individuals playing under a banner of convenience doesn't work because of the physical, collective nature of the game. Just look at Saracens, or Toulon.

This also badly affects the already cash strapped SARFU. Venter's been offering Capetown Storm players the moon on a stick if they make the move london...so knocks on there too....lose, lose all round from the perspective of the global game I reckon...

anonymous_joe

toomevara wrote: »

Totally agree, and not a particularly well performing collection to boot! Appears this is the wave of the future.Don't bloody like it though! Rugby just ain't like football, a collection of talented but disparate individuals playing under a banner of convenience doesn't work because of the physical, collective nature of the game. Just look at Saracens, or Toulon.

This also badly affects the already cash strapped SARFU. Venter's been offering Capetown Storm players the moon on a stick if they make the move london...so knocks on there too....lose, lose all round from the perspective of the global game I reckon...

Yeah, just had a look at their squad. Not exactly brimming with well known disciplined stars.

Wonder is Owen Farrell eligible for Ireland...

Rugby does require a team ethic, and a team like Sarries are the ultimate version of a team lacking that.

As for the Stormers, it's not fair, but it's inevitable. Sure if Irish rugby had never gone provincial we'd probably have LIrish doing the same to us. It's not right, but rugby's ruled by money as much as any sport.

toomevara

anonymous_joe wrote: »

As for the Stormers, it's not fair, but it's inevitable. Sure if Irish rugby had never gone provincial we'd probably have LIrish doing the same to us. It's not right, but rugby's ruled by money as much as any sport.

Its odd, because in rugby league there's recently been a massive backlash against the over importation of largely australian talent and the horrendous knock on effect its had on the development of the game here. (England's appalling RLWC performance this year has put the tin hat on it for many). The teams who've adopted an aggressive policy of developing and playing home grown talent brought up through their own academy system are doing very well. Rhinos and Saints are the two best examples..but still way too much over reliance on Aussie imports...

In the union context, the LI academy is providing some superb players, for example, the Armitage brothers. Problem with that approach is its not a quick fix....Players, coaches, owners and managers need to think in the longer term, but with shelf lives becoming shorter and shorter and with tolerance for squad building and the inevitable associated losses at an all time low....fat bloody chance really....